Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work.

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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great, but
it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar stock.
Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it worked out
great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the big mill, and
then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was quite nice having
all three pieces of equipment working for me at the same time while I was
doing other work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high precision
work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll keep and eye
out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I have realized how
useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving curves and angles to fit
sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing steel tube, and of course
its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but I am
sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I am
thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens. I am
sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length, but I was
wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it. One that will
tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal usage, or something
I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing
aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see
it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.




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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great, but
it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar stock.
Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it worked out
great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the big mill, and
then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was quite nice having
all three pieces of equipment working for me at the same time while I was
doing other work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high precision
work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll keep and eye
out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I have realized how
useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving curves and angles to fit
sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing steel tube, and of course
its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but I am
sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I am
thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens. I am
sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length, but I was
wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it. One that will
tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal usage, or something
I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing
aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see
it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.


I've seen them at HF and was a bit surprised at how un-terrible they
appeared to be compared to the other power tools.


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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not
great, but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat
aluminum bar stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a
customer and it worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw,
squared them up on the big mill, and then threw them on the smaller
high speed mill. It was quite nice having all three pieces of
equipment working for me at the same time while I was doing other
work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.
I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now
that I have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand
carving curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it
for severing steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat
aluminum bar stock.
I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up,
but I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some
point. I am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before
that happens. I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade
the right length, but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I
could get for it. One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last
longer under normal usage, or something I can't even think of at the
moment. The saw is mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the
still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see it having to
sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.
This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.


Go to Enco , buy the Irwin bimetallic for around 15 bucks plus shipping .
Only drawback is that it's only available in 10/14 pitch . They do have
other blades , my neighbor the blacksmith likes the Morse 18t carbon steel .
I do too for thin stock . There is a yahoo (google?) group for the 4x6 , has
a lot of good info in the archives about how to tune these up .

--
Snag


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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:29:44 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great, but
it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar stock.
Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it worked out
great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the big mill, and
then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was quite nice having
all three pieces of equipment working for me at the same time while I was
doing other work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high precision
work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll keep and eye
out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I have realized how
useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving curves and angles to fit
sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing steel tube, and of course
its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but I am
sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I am
thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens. I am
sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length, but I was
wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it. One that will
tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal usage, or something
I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing
aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see
it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.


I have a similar one- old enough to be made in Taiwan rather than
China.

I got a deal on some Starett bimetal blades - have enough for the next
few years. There are other bimetal ones with good reviews in the
$30-$40 range. eg. (have not tried these)
http://www.amazon.com/Lenox-Diemaste.../dp/B0069WBXWW


A bit noisy, but as someone here said once, it sounds a heck of a lot
better than my arm doing the hacksawing.


--sp


--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Amazon link for AoE 3rd Edition: http://tinyurl.com/ntrpwu8
Microchip link for 2015 Masters in Phoenix: http://tinyurl.com/l7g2k48
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not
great, but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat
aluminum bar stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a
customer and it worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw,
squared them up on the big mill, and then threw them on the smaller
high speed mill. It was quite nice having all three pieces of
equipment working for me at the same time while I was doing other
work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me.
I'll keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now
that I have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand
carving curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it
for severing steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat
aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up,
but I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some
point. I am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before
that happens. I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade
the right length, but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade
I could get for it. One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes,
last longer under normal usage, or something I can't even think of
at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing aluminum bar
with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see it
having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table
saw getting a good wood blade back on it.


I've been satisfied with mine, a Delta. I use mostly 10-14 Diemaster
II blades for steel, also 6-10 TPI for 6" wide steel and landscaping
timbers and 24 TPI Bosch blades for sheetmetal.
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-BS6412-2.../dp/B0062IBH6A

O-1 doesn't seem to dull it, at the lowest speed. I remove the case on
the lathe before sawing hydraulic cylinder rod.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...Bandsaw-Blade/

To unfold it you open it until it wants to continue and then throw it
hard toward a safe place. It's an impressive outdoor-only
demonstration with the 1.25" x 16' blades for my sawmill, a
do-it-yourself sharknado.

-jsw




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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great, but
it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar stock.
Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it worked out
great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the big mill,
and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was quite nice
having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the same time while
I was doing other work on the manual machines in between loading parts.
For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I have
realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving curves and
angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing steel tube,
and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but I
am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I am
thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens. I
am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length, but
I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it. One
that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal usage,
or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is mostly used
for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest pulley speed,
but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from
time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.


I've been satisfied with mine, a Delta. I use mostly 10-14 Diemaster II
blades for steel, also 6-10 TPI for 6" wide steel and landscaping timbers
and 24 TPI Bosch blades for sheetmetal.
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-BS6412-2.../dp/B0062IBH6A

O-1 doesn't seem to dull it, at the lowest speed. I remove the case on the
lathe before sawing hydraulic cylinder rod.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...Bandsaw-Blade/

To unfold it you open it until it wants to continue and then throw it hard
toward a safe place. It's an impressive outdoor-only demonstration with
the 1.25" x 16' blades for my sawmill, a do-it-yourself sharknado.

-jsw


I am somewhat familiar with the sudden opening of bandsaw blades. I've got
a little Rigid bench top (on its own stand) that' I've used for wood and
plastic for years. Those blades are bad enough. I can't imagine the force
and reach of uncorking a 16' saw mill blade.



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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:32:14 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not
great, but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat
aluminum bar stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a
customer and it worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw,
squared them up on the big mill, and then threw them on the smaller
high speed mill. It was quite nice having all three pieces of
equipment working for me at the same time while I was doing other
work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.


One of these days, I need to build a 4x6 type base for my portable HF
bandsaur. I'm doing more and more manual metalworking nowadays and
think it would be a handy thing to have around.


I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me.
I'll keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now
that I have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand
carving curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it
for severing steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat
aluminum bar stock.


I may test mine on RR track one of these days soon, but I haven't even
done a file test on the track yet. Coupla feet of small gauge rail.
Got some Milwaukee bimetal blades for it.


I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up,
but I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some
point. I am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before
that happens. I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade
the right length, but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade
I could get for it. One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes,
last longer under normal usage, or something I can't even think of
at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing aluminum bar
with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see it
having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table
saw getting a good wood blade back on it.


Ayup. They can be darned handy. We cut the 22' piece of 4" square
tubing down to size on one, for my Green Monster. That and lots of
aluminum pieces. Due to its larger size, the aluminum sheet was cut
on the radio alarm saur Glenn has set up for it. The old blade had
lost a carbide tooth and proved bumpy as hell until I showed him the
ragged piece of blade.


I've been satisfied with mine, a Delta. I use mostly 10-14 Diemaster
II blades for steel, also 6-10 TPI for 6" wide steel and landscaping
timbers and 24 TPI Bosch blades for sheetmetal.
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-BS6412-2.../dp/B0062IBH6A

O-1 doesn't seem to dull it, at the lowest speed. I remove the case on
the lathe before sawing hydraulic cylinder rod.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...Bandsaw-Blade/

To unfold it you open it until it wants to continue and then throw it
hard toward a safe place. It's an impressive outdoor-only
demonstration with the 1.25" x 16' blades for my sawmill, a
do-it-yourself sharknado.


They ARE, aren't they? /scarier'n****butfaskinatin' stuff

--
My desire to be well-informed is currently
at odds with my desire to remain sane. --Sipkess
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

If you can, add a flood coolant system that cools the teeth, lubs,
and watches the teeth from gripping bits. These bits hammer on the
teeth as it saws and will wear the blade out faster.

Martin

On 7/30/2015 3:29 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great,
but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar
stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it
worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the
big mill, and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was
quite nice having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the
same time while I was doing other work on the manual machines in between
loading parts. For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I
have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving
curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing
steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but
I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I
am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens.
I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length,
but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it.
One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal
usage, or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is
mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest
pulley speed, but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a
piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.




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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 9:26:58 PM UTC-5, Martin Eastburn wrote:
If you can, add a flood coolant system that cools the teeth, lubs,
and watches the teeth from gripping bits. These bits hammer on the
teeth as it saws and will wear the blade out faster.

Martin

On 7/30/2015 3:29 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great,
but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar
stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it
worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the
big mill, and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was
quite nice having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the
same time while I was doing other work on the manual machines in between
loading parts. For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I
have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving
curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing
steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but
I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I
am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens.
I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length,
but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it.
One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal
usage, or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is
mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest
pulley speed, but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a
piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.





Those little 4x6s are the best $200 you can spend in a small shop. I tell beginner hobbyists to buy one right after they buy their first lathe, ideally on the way home with it. Mine is an Enco which is slightly better made.
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Friday, July 31, 2015 at 7:17:37 AM UTC-5, Rex wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 9:26:58 PM UTC-5, Martin Eastburn wrote:
If you can, add a flood coolant system that cools the teeth, lubs,
and watches the teeth from gripping bits. These bits hammer on the
teeth as it saws and will wear the blade out faster.

Martin

On 7/30/2015 3:29 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great,
but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar
stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it
worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the
big mill, and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was
quite nice having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the
same time while I was doing other work on the manual machines in between
loading parts. For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I
have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving
curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing
steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but
I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I
am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens.
I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length,
but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it.
One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal
usage, or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is
mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest
pulley speed, but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a
piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.





Those little 4x6s are the best $200 you can spend in a small shop. I tell beginner hobbyists to buy one right after they buy their first lathe, ideally on the way home with it. Mine is an Enco which is slightly better made.


Oh yeah - Change the gearbox oil first thing. It usually has metal chips and crap oil in it. Automotive hypoid oil works fine.


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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 05:17:33 -0700 (PDT), Rex
wrote:

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 9:26:58 PM UTC-5, Martin Eastburn wrote:
If you can, add a flood coolant system that cools the teeth, lubs,
and watches the teeth from gripping bits. These bits hammer on the
teeth as it saws and will wear the blade out faster.

Martin

On 7/30/2015 3:29 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great,
but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar
stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it
worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the
big mill, and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was
quite nice having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the
same time while I was doing other work on the manual machines in between
loading parts. For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I
have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving
curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing
steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but
I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I
am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens.
I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length,
but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it.
One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal
usage, or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is
mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest
pulley speed, but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a
piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.





Those little 4x6s are the best $200 you can spend in a small shop. I tell beginner hobbyists to buy one right after they buy their first lathe, ideally on the way home with it. Mine is an Enco which is slightly better made.


Agreed. An early welding project was making a cart out of 1" sq tube
with a sliding chip pan. Mine is on wheels, need to add a brake for
vertical work. Right now, I back it up against the bench.

Pete Keillor
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 5:12:34 PM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:
Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not
great, but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat
aluminum bar stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a
customer and it worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw,
squared them up on the big mill, and then threw them on the smaller
high speed mill. It was quite nice having all three pieces of
equipment working for me at the same time while I was doing other
work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.
I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now
that I have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand
carving curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it
for severing steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat
aluminum bar stock.
I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up,
but I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some
point. I am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before
that happens. I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade
the right length, but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I
could get for it. One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last
longer under normal usage, or something I can't even think of at the
moment. The saw is mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the
still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see it having to
sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.
This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my
table saw getting a good wood blade back on it.


Go to Enco , buy the Irwin bimetallic for around 15 bucks
plus shipping .


What is that? Bi-metallic? And why is it bi-metallic? So it can curl-up if it hits something live?
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On 2015-07-31, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Rex fired this volley in news:c0a38c7e-aa25-47d7-
:

Those little 4x6s are the best $200 you can spend in a small shop.


AMEN! I have a much larger Kalamazoo, but the little MSC 4x6 over in the
corner has done the lion's share of cutoff work.


Ah yes. The MSC has a real motor on it, unlike some of the
others which have the same size housing, but a very short stator and
rotor, so they burn out fairly soon. (Check with a hand on the motor
during a long cut. If it gets too hot to keep your hand on, plan on
replacing it. ;-)

Also -- the MSC version has some nicely forged blocks to hold
the guide bearings and their eccentric adjusters. Some of the less
expensive versions have the same part made of bent steel, and tend to
bend under chip under the roller loads, so they have to be re-adjusted
more often. I'm still using the same setting on my MSC one. Perhaps
15-20 years old by now.

Bob... spring for some decent blades. I get the Starrett bi-metal 64-
1/2" bands from McMaster. They last, and over their useful life, are
about the same price as the junky Chinese ones.


Or a few rolls of good blade stock of various pitches (all have
to be 1/2" to work on the drive wheels of that design -- no crowned
rubber tire on them to handle various widths without squishing the teeth
out of set.

One thing to remember is that when you tighten it with a new
blade, you really need to tighten it as hard as you can by hand to get
near the right tension. Run it too loose and you will lose blades
quickly.

I seldom break one. They're usually dulled or have lost their set, and
get replaced for those reasons.


Enjoy,
DoN.

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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:29:44 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great, but
it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar stock.
Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it worked out
great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the big mill, and
then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was quite nice having
all three pieces of equipment working for me at the same time while I was
doing other work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high precision
work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll keep and eye
out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I have realized how
useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving curves and angles to fit
sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing steel tube, and of course
its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but I am
sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I am
thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens. I am
sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length, but I was
wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it. One that will
tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal usage, or something
I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing
aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see
it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.



Lennox #1, Starrett #2 for bandsaw blades.

You simply take a blade to any good saw shop and have them made to
your order

For that little saw..a good 10t and a good 8t (8 teeth per inch)
blade. If you are cutting thin steel...a 14t would be good.

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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:17:45 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:32:14 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not
great, but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat
aluminum bar stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a
customer and it worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw,
squared them up on the big mill, and then threw them on the smaller
high speed mill. It was quite nice having all three pieces of
equipment working for me at the same time while I was doing other
work on the manual machines in between loading parts. For a few
minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.


One of these days, I need to build a 4x6 type base for my portable HF
bandsaur. I'm doing more and more manual metalworking nowadays and
think it would be a handy thing to have around.


I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me.
I'll keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now
that I have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand
carving curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it
for severing steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat
aluminum bar stock.


I may test mine on RR track one of these days soon, but I haven't even
done a file test on the track yet. Coupla feet of small gauge rail.
Got some Milwaukee bimetal blades for it.


Do yourself a real favor..heat that track in a fire until its red
hot..then cover it with ashes etc etc and let it cool overnight. It
will be soft enough to cut the next morning. You will simply wear
out a bandsaw blade trying to cut it as it is without annealing it in
the bon fire.



I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up,
but I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some
point. I am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before
that happens. I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade
the right length, but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade
I could get for it. One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes,
last longer under normal usage, or something I can't even think of
at the moment. The saw is mostly used for severing aluminum bar
with the still quite slow highest pulley speed, but I can see it
having to sever a piece of 1018 or a piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table
saw getting a good wood blade back on it.


Ayup. They can be darned handy. We cut the 22' piece of 4" square
tubing down to size on one, for my Green Monster. That and lots of
aluminum pieces. Due to its larger size, the aluminum sheet was cut
on the radio alarm saur Glenn has set up for it. The old blade had
lost a carbide tooth and proved bumpy as hell until I showed him the
ragged piece of blade.


I've been satisfied with mine, a Delta. I use mostly 10-14 Diemaster
II blades for steel, also 6-10 TPI for 6" wide steel and landscaping
timbers and 24 TPI Bosch blades for sheetmetal.
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-BS6412-2.../dp/B0062IBH6A

O-1 doesn't seem to dull it, at the lowest speed. I remove the case on
the lathe before sawing hydraulic cylinder rod.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...Bandsaw-Blade/

To unfold it you open it until it wants to continue and then throw it
hard toward a safe place. It's an impressive outdoor-only
demonstration with the 1.25" x 16' blades for my sawmill, a
do-it-yourself sharknado.


They ARE, aren't they? /scarier'n****butfaskinatin' stuff

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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:26:46 -0500, Martin Eastburn
wrote:

If you can, add a flood coolant system that cools the teeth, lubs,
and watches the teeth from gripping bits. These bits hammer on the
teeth as it saws and will wear the blade out faster.

Martin


and Gentlemen..remember..at least (3) teeth in the work at all time.
AT LEAST (3)



On 7/30/2015 3:29 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I recently picked up a small HF metal cutting bandsaw. Its not great,
but it does what I wanted it to do. Sever pieces of flat aluminum bar
stock. Recently I was making some small molds for a customer and it
worked out great. I cut pieces with the bandsaw, squared them up on the
big mill, and then threw them on the smaller high speed mill. It was
quite nice having all three pieces of equipment working for me at the
same time while I was doing other work on the manual machines in between
loading parts. For a few minutes I felt like a "real" shop owner. LOL.

I know I have not been kind to HF in recent years, and this piece of
equipment has its HF problems, but as long as I don't expect high
precision work out of it it's a useful piece of equipment for me. I'll
keep and eye out for a bigger and better one I can afford now that I
have realized how useful it is. I've used it for freehand carving
curves and angles to fit sheet for enclosures, I've used it for severing
steel tube, and of course its severed a lot of flat aluminum bar stock.

I haven't had it long, so there is not telling how it will hold up, but
I am sure I'll do something stupid and snap the blade at some point. I
am thinking I want to pick up a spare blade for it before that happens.
I am sure I can just shop around for a generic blade the right length,
but I was wondering if there was a "better" blade I could get for it.
One that will tolerate more stupid mistakes, last longer under normal
usage, or something I can't even think of at the moment. The saw is
mostly used for severing aluminum bar with the still quite slow highest
pulley speed, but I can see it having to sever a piece of 1018 or a
piece of O-1 from time to time.

This is the cheap little 4x6.

I can easily see my abrasive saw falling into disuse, and my table saw
getting a good wood blade back on it.






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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

AURGH!!!

I cut some stock this morning, and when I went to square it up on the mill
it kept coming up short. I was freaking out thinking the band saw was
cutting the pieces so crooked I couldn't square them up even though I left
an 1/8 just for that. Then I realize I had the square I was measuring with
set at 8-3/8 instead of 8-5/8. Oops. Sigh. Well I have lots of small
pieces to go in the play stock pile.

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On Sat, 1 Aug 2015 13:57:43 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

AURGH!!!

I cut some stock this morning, and when I went to square it up on the mill
it kept coming up short. I was freaking out thinking the band saw was
cutting the pieces so crooked I couldn't square them up even though I left
an 1/8 just for that. Then I realize I had the square I was measuring with
set at 8-3/8 instead of 8-5/8. Oops. Sigh. Well I have lots of small
pieces to go in the play stock pile.



VBG

Been there, done that. Usually on a Sunday when the stores are
closed...sigh

Isnt this a FUN! hobby?!!

Gunner
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Default Metal Cutting Bandsaw

"Bob La Londe" fired this volley in news:mpjbld$eql$1
@dont-email.me:

Then I realize I had the square I was measuring with
set at 8-3/8 instead of 8-5/8. Oops. Sigh. Well I have lots of small
pieces to go in the play stock pile.



G... I use the stock-stop L-arm, measuring the first piece cut before
committing to a larger run.

You'll also get crooked cuts (vertical wander) with a dull band
(sometimes even just a "little dull"), so go with the best bands you can
afford, and don't be bashful about tossing one out when it stops cutting
'square'. They're less expensive than your wasted time.

Lloyd
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